Supporters of Pakistan People's Party hold an image of Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto during a candlelight vigil to commemorate her death anniversary in Lahore. (Thomson Reuters File Photo)
Following are some of the major events to have occurred on December 27:
Reuters
1927 - The Russian Revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Communist Party,marking a victory for Josef Stalin in their power struggle.
1945 - The International Monetary Fund was established in Washington.
1956 - After the Suez Crisis between Egypt and Israel, Britain and France, a U.N. fleet began clearing the canal.
1972 - Lester Pearson, Canadian prime minister from 1963-68, died. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his efforts to resolve the Suez crisis.
1983 - Pope John Paul II meets would-be assassin Mehmet Ali Agca in prison.
1995 - Brinks armoured car attacked by ten gunmen near Lille airport in France.
1996 - French solo yachtsman Raphael Dinelli rescued by fellow round-the-world Vendee Globe race competitor Briton Pete Goss.
2004 - Susan Sontag, the radical American writer and critic who was one of the few voices of intellectual opposition to U.S. policies after the Sept. 11 attacks, died aged 71.
2005 - Opening session of Arab Transitional Parliament, the Arab world's first regional parliament meeting.
2007 - A suicide bomber assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, plunging the country into chaos ahead of a general election that Bhutto hoped to win.
2008 - World's longest sausage record set in Bucharest.
